COLUMBUS — The fanbases at Clear Fork and Lucas can begin plotting their Saturday schedules to follow their favorite high school football teams as each competes in the regional finals.
In Division IV, No. 1-seed Clear Fork (12-0) tangles with second-seeded St. Marys Memorial (11-1) on Saturday at 7 p.m. at Bellefontaine High School.
Clear Fork went 11-0 last year before losing to Bellevue in the regional semifinals. The Colts have allowed just two TDs in a pair of playoff wins, 20-6 over No. 8 seed Bryan and a 26-8 dismissal of fourth-seeded Lorain Clearview. St. Marys dispatched seventh-seeded Pepper Pike 48-13 and No. 3 seed Van Wert 55-20.
In Division VII, top-seeded Lucas (10-2) will challenge third-seeded Glouster Trimble (11-1) on Saturday at 7 p.m. at Hamilton Township High School for a Region 27 championship.
The Cubs’ tournament trail includes victories over eighth-seeded Hannibal River (42-0) and No. 4-seed Waterford 33-14. Glouster Trimble’s road to the Elite Eight included a 36-0 shutout of sixth-seed Lancaster Fisher Catholic, and a 7-0 blanking of previously undefeated and second-seeded Canal Winchester Harvest Prep.
Trimble ended Lucas’ season last year, handing the Cubs a 20-19 home loss in the opening round of the playoffs.
“We’ve got unfinished business,” Lucas coach Scott Spitler told his team. “To be honest, if you asked their team and you asked our kids, both teams expected to be here.
“We had a great game with them. We have mad respect. They are hard-nosed, tough kids with a lot of tradition of success and that’s what we’re building at Lucas.”
